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Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?


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TheDemSocialist

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Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?
 
Absolutely. Many would be radicalized with or without us. But some need that extra push. We are experts at giving that extra push.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Yes and no. We are not responsible per SE, but our weak policy is contributing. We either need to be all in or all out.

Ann Coulter had it partly right when she said "we should invade ther countries kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" well we don't need to convert people to Christianity, but if we wanted to end radical islam we're talking a long term occupation ad complete changing of their culture similar to japan after ww2

If we're not willing to do that we shouldn't bother get involved in their affairs.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

The crucial error on our nation's part happened in the 1970s, when the Carter Administration abandoned and betrayed one of the best and most important allies we ever had in the Muslim-dominated world. As a result, the Shah of Iran was overthrown, and that nation taken over by the Khomeniacs. This gave the radical, violent fringes of Islamism the resources of an entire nation at their disposal, and set the stage for all the trouble that we have since had with Islamist terrorism.
 
Yes, in part. Mobilizing radicals through merely intervening in Afghanistan is one example, one which I find to be less troubling than allowing them to fill a void left largely unoccupied or ill-defended as a direct result of our lack of resolve, as we've seen in Iraq, Libya and potentially other countries in the region.
 
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Absolutely. Many would be radicalized with or without us. But some need that extra push. We are experts at giving that extra push.

Removing Saddam Hussein didn't help matters.
He really kept his radicals in check.
Of course, there was a downside to his ironfisted rule.
 
The crucial error on our nation's part happened in the 1970s, when the Carter Administration abandoned and betrayed one of the best and most important allies we ever had in the Muslim-dominated world. As a result, the Shah of Iran was overthrown, and that nation taken over by the Khomeniacs. This gave the radical, violent fringes of Islamism the resources of an entire nation at their disposal, and set the stage for all the trouble that we have since had with Islamist terrorism.

The Shah was hated by the MAJORITY of his citizenry.
I'm not certain US support or lack of support was much of a factor.
What do you think JC should have done to prop up the Shah?
 
No. The only ones responsible for jihadi terrorism are jihadi terrorists and theis direct supporters.
 
The Shah was hated by the MAJORITY of his citizenry.
I'm not certain US support or lack of support was much of a factor.
What do you think JC should have done to prop up the Shah?

While I think that the Carter Administration's policy towards Iran was, like most of its foreign policy, befuddled and incompetent, I agree that in the end there was little the US could do to prevent the Shah's regime from disintegrating.
 
Both. We've organized security improvements throughout the entire West and the world as a whole that have made it harder for them to project power and influence. However, this resulted in them focusing their energies on toppling pro-Western regimes in the Middle East. They've gotten better at that.
 
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The Middle East lacks many elements that make it possible to create diversified economies. That includes rain, minerals, forests, financial sectors, etc. Their main reliance is oil.

You could say Israel is the exception, but they receive lots of aid which has allowed them the opportunity to create different economic sectors. Egypt is another country with the wealth to invest in their own country to create a class of people that isn't destitute, but has the money to live decent lives.

That leaves the vast majority of the Middle East (with some exceptions here and there). Powerful poverty, lack of education or the ability to receive it. Throw religion into the mix and you have all the elements to make radicalization a popular idea.

One of the biggest mistakes the U.S. makes in regards to the Middle East is the idea that our way is the best way. Democracy simply does not work in most of these countries. When we remove the power structures that held places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, soon to be Syria together, we create a vast void of instability left to be filled. This is why ISIS thrives.

Yes, U.S. Foreign policy is a failure in the Middle East. These people have to be ruled with an iron fist, and live in fear. The alternative is what we are seeing now.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Definitely gave it some footholds where it had none and a sense of purpose to focus on.
 
Some people are just obsessed with blaming everything in the world on the US. This is actually very derogatory towards the rest of the world since it assumes the rest of the world has no mind of its own and just responds to the US.
 
Simple question - simple answer - NO

It's always easy to blame the victims of crime and violence for the actions of criminals. A young lady raped is at fault for the shortness of her skirt - A bank is responsible for robberies because they charge too much in fees and pay little interest - A successful businessman is responsible for a carjacking because he drives a nice BMW - society is responsible for young black men killing young black men or getting killed themselves because we don't give them enough or enough opportunities - etc., etc.

Islam is responsible for the radicals within its midsts, period.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

This has been established repeatedly, but I suppose it does no harm to go over it again.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-iraq-war-made-terror-worse/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/09/27/iraq-cause-celebre-for-extremists-intel-report-says/

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12913317/ns/politics/t/intel-report-iraq-cause-clbre-extremists/

http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2007/07/iraqterrorism

The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has increased the number of terrorist groups worldwide and "made the overall terrorism problem worse," a U.S. intelligence official said in a secret study.

The assessment of the war's impact on terrorism came in a National Intelligence Estimate that represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government, CBS News learned Sunday.
 
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Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Of course. The US corporate has strived for hegemony and manipulated the government into policy changes that serve that agenda. The US has toppled governments all over the world and installed puppet regimes who have violently suppressed their own people and rather than facilitate democratic reforms when a country felt they were necessary, we simply called them communists and trained suppressive military groups who terrorized the population. Thus "GO Home Yankee".

The Middle East is just a glaring example of that failed policy and WE have to suffer the consequences of it. Saudi Arabia is funding a great deal of today's Muslim terrorists and we sit idly by and watch them do it because of financial ties. So, we continue to suffer for money.
 
Yes

Yes, but with a few notes on the sides.

- The US is not directly but indirectly responsible.
- Not only the US is responsible for this. Also other nations that have waged war in the middle-east play part in this.
- Jobs have been done half and not thoroughly.

I think that the real issue has not been addressed and as long as this is the case their will be many people radicalising. The only way to stop this is to move in big time and stay their for a long period of time. During this time you make sure that you control education and ensure that all people get proper education. This is what was done in Germany and Japan. Was not easy nor quick but it worked. Considering that the Germans are a western nation with a culture very similar to ours it may be surprising how many people were send to Germany by the allies for occupation for a prolonged period of time. It is a little naïve to think now that we can move in with a relatively small force, wreck havoc, and when the goal has been reached to return back home again and think all is going to be ok. That is creating a breathing ground for terrorism in this case. And we should have learned from the past. We had seen this many many times before and not only in the middle east. We should have learned from this and acted with this knowledge in mind.

So yes we are indirectly responsible for the chaos that is enfolding in the middle east.


Joey
 
Yes, partly though high-handed foreign policy, but still more so through our own cultural degeneracy. We have rampant abortion, glorified homosexuality, pornography, indecency and blasphemy (I'm a Catholic Christian, but blasphemy against God or Allah, a term also used by Christian Arabs, is abhorrent). Most Muslim nations do not, and so the decay of our culture makes Muslims look with understandable loathing on our sick secularism. Their methods are too extreme and lacking Christian prohibitions on personal revenge, but nevertheless we have given Muslims some degree of just cause to despise our culture. I'm American and I despise our culture, even though I don't advocate violence.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Indirectly, perhaps, but that is far too complex to quantify or measure. Instability in the Middle East might have empowered fundamentalist groups, but the truth is that radical Islam was already on the rise before any Western intervention in the Gulf and Iraq.

Technological advancement (particularly in the form of relatively cheap airtravel) has counter-intuitively led to an Islamic resurgence and a renewed adherence to the "fundamentals" of Islam which were arguably diluted in the Arab world under Ottoman rule. For example, the number of Hajj pilgrims has increased exponentially, by something like 3000 percent, over the last hundred years.

The Saudis have definitely been integral to this resurgence. They've spent billions on inculcating their Wahhabism in Muslim communities around the world, and influencing Islamic jurisprudence. All the Gulf States have in fact spent billions funding and aiding adversaries of Shi'ites, contributing to an increase in sectarian hostility while increasing the appeal of Sunni Islamism. In this sense, the rise of OPEC and the importance of oil in the global economy has indirectly been key in the spread radical Islam.
 
If it was not the US in the ME, it would have been the Soviets.

How so? Was there any indication that the Soviets could of spread their influence past the status quo?
 
i voted yes, we could smash them, but we don't because it's convenient to have an enemy that can be 'anywhere'.
 
Simple question: Has the US Worsened the Spread of Radical Islam?

Since the USA/CIA has spent a billion dollars financing Islamic Fundamentalists in Syria, it is without doubt the US has worsened the spread of Radical Islam. Our interventions in the MidEast have given the radical groups a common focus with the USA as an enemy being the focal point. What the hell are we doing in the MidEast anyway? We have enough problems to fix here in the USA. I don't believe our gov't is in touch with its' electorate.
 
I really, really hate to break it to America, but, if America never existed, if America had no influence on the world stage, Islam would still slaughter, rape and enslave people it conquered. That is exactly what Islam has been doing for 1400 years and will continue to do for as long as it exists in the world. It is a cancer that infects and destroys everything it touches. Muslims conquered and Islam was spread by the sword (the Crusades were an attempt to halt Islamic imperialism), eastern European countries have been conquered and have had to submit to Islam for centuries, saving western Europe, Muslims ran the slave trade etc. etc. long before America came into being.

I wish America would withdraw from the rest of the world; and that doesn't mean just militarily, it means economically too. I guarantee you that if America said that's it, the world hates us, screw the world, we won't buy from China we will recreate a strong manufacturing industry, pour all the aid money into America to fix poverty etc., end all immigration - illegal and legal - now, let's see how the rest of the world gets along without American money, medicine, aid, military help etc. Don't call us, ever. Within a year the rest of the world would be screaming for American help. Yes, I wish America would keep it's nose out of every other country, but the rest of the world will pay a price for that. Who would China sell to? Who would supply aid money that really goes to corrupt governments and the military (certainly not the people who need it)? I wish Australia would do the same. Unfortunately, globalisation is here to stay. Anyway, it's never going to happen, but one can dream!
 
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